* In the current Parliamentary Session, the following Public Bill Committees have concluded their consideration of the Bill earlier than scheduled: Criminal Finances, Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts), Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs), Neighbourhood Planning, Savings (Government Contributions), Technical and Further Education, Commonwealth Development Corporation and Children and Social Work.

Aims of the Bill

The Local Government Finance Bill 2016-17　would amend the framework legislation for business rates in England. Much of the Bill consists of amendments to the　Local Government Finance Act 1988　(the ‘1988 Act’).

The Bill is divided into four Parts, which give effect to a number of commitments regarding business rates made by the Government during 2014-2016:

• Part 1 provides the legislative framework for the introduction of full retention of business rate revenue by local authorities (‘100% business rate retention’).
• Part 2 gives effect to a number of adjustments to liability for business rates arising from recent policy reviews and decisions, and permits initiatives towards greater digitisation of rates collection.
• Part 3 permits the imposition of ‘infrastructure supplements’ by mayoral combined authorities and the Mayor of London, as agreed in a number of the ‘devolution deals’ concluded in 2014-16.
• Part 4 introduces a new ‘property owner levy’, built upon the concept of ‘property owner Business Improvement Districts’ developed in 2014, and extends the power to create business rate supplements to mayoral combined authorities.

The Bill extends to England and Wales, but its territorial effect is within England only.

Follow the progress of the Local Government Finance Bill

The Local Government Finance Bill was presented to the House of Commons on 13 January 2017 and had its second reading debate on Monday 23 January 2017.

• Catch up on Parliament News: MPs debate the Local Government Finance Bill
• Bills before Parliament: Local Government Finance Bill
• Read Explanatory Notes: Local Government Finance Bill
• Read Library briefing

This Bill has now been committed to a Public Bill Committee which will hold its oral evidence sessions on Tuesday 31 January 2017. The Public Bill Committee must conclude by Tuesday 21 February 2017.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Committee is expected to meet for the first time on Tuesday 31 January 2017; it will stop receiving written evidence at the end of the Committee stage on Tuesday 21 February 2017. Please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Tuesday 21 February 2017.

What should written evidence cover?

Your submission should address matters contained within the Bill and concentrate on issues where you have a special interest or expertise, and factual information of which you would like the Committee to be aware.

Your submission could most usefully:

• suggest amendments to the Bill, with supporting explanation; and
• (when amendments are published) support or oppose amendments tabled to the Bill by Members of Parliament, with supporting explanation

It is helpful if the submission includes a brief introduction about you or your organisation. The submission should not have been previously published or circulated elsewhere.

If you have any concerns about your submission, please contact the Scrutiny Unit (details below).

How should written evidence be submitted?

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk. Please note that submissions sent to the Government department in charge of the Bill will not be treated as evidence to the Public Bill Committee. Submissions should be in the form of a Word document. A summary should be provided. Paragraphs should be numbered, but there should be no page numbering.

Essential statistics or further details can be added as annexes, which should also be numbered. To make publication easier, please avoid the use of coloured graphs, complex diagrams or pictures. As a guideline, submissions should not exceed 3,000 words.

Please include in the covering email the name, address, telephone number and email address of the person responsible for the submission. The submission should be dated.

What will happen to my evidence?

The written evidence will be circulated to all Committee Members to inform their consideration of the Bill. 

Most submissions will also be published on the internet as soon as possible after the Committee has started sitting.

Those making a submission to a Bill Committee should note the following:

• Committees publish most of the written evidence they receive on the internet (where it will be accessible to search engines).
  If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must clearly say so and explain your reasons for not wishing its disclosure. The committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish. If you wish to include private or confidential information in your submission to the committee, please contact the clerk of the committee to discuss this. The Scrutiny Unit (details below) will be able to provide you with contact details for the clerk.
• A Committee is not obliged to accept your submission as evidence, nor to publish any or all of the submission even if it has been accepted as evidence. This may occur where a submission is very long or contains material to which it is inappropriate to give parliamentary privilege (see Guide for Witnesses ( PDF 1.25 MB)for further information on parliamentary privilege).
• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a submission, in which case it should be clearly referenced, preferably with a hyperlink.
• You should be careful not to comment on matters currently before a court of law, or matters in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the clerk of the committee how this might affect your submission.
• Once submitted, no public use should be made of any submission prepared specifically for the committee unless you have first obtained permission from the clerk of the committee. If you are given permission by the committee to publish your evidence separately, you should be aware that you will be legally responsible for its content.
• Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege.
• Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been published you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.
• Public Bill Committees do not investigate individual cases of complaint or allegations of maladministration.

Data protection

• The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing.
• The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.
• If you have any queries or concerns about the collection and use of this information please advise the committee team providing your full contact details.

Scrutiny Unit contact details
Email: scrutiny@parliament.uk
Telephone: 020 7219 8387
Address: Ian Hook
Senior Executive Officer
Scrutiny Unit
House of Commons 
London SW1A OAA